What Happened To Our Democracy?

Dwight Eisenhower warned against the United States becoming predominately
dependent on military power as a means for its security. The biggest
change in American democratic history came about as a result of World War
II and the introduction of the nuclear bomb. From the mid 40's to the early
50's two different directions became available for our government to choose
from.

One direction was for our government to embrace the principles of the newly
formed United Nations, which was originally handed all the tools necessary
to civilize this world through a system of International Law and Order
based on the establishment of an International Bill of Human Rights.

After the devastation of World War II the world came to realize future wars
using nuclear weapons could destroy this world and a new system for
providing a more peaceful and civilized existence in this world was needed,
thus the United Nations was formed.

The other direction governments could take was to pursue military
expansionism with nuclear weapons to ensure their defense.

Once one single country pursued this path others were forced to follow and
the overall purpose of the United Nations was nullified.

Today the American people have become oppressed slaves to their military
power and have been forced to give up their democratic rights and freedoms
for their security.

Ben Franklin stated, once you give up your liberty and democratic rights
for your security, you deserve neither. The cost the American people have
had to pay for their military power is being a constant target always
having to defend itself from those who wish not to be militarily dominated
by the U.S. government.

The American people and their democracy has been oppressed and dominated by
fear as a result of their military power and expansionism.

The United States government is now the most barbaric, brutal, and
uncivilized country in the world and has been responsible for more deaths
(approximately seven million people killed) then any other country since
the mid 1950's.

The strange thing is the American people act shocked when someone attacks
their country (911, the USS Cole, etc) and can't understand why.

We have been conditioned to believe a strong military is the best way to
defend our country, but when that military power jeopardizes our security
and safety because our leaders are abusing it for purposes other then to
defend our country, we should not be surprised.

Being civilized and living in Peace is the sacrifice we have made for
military power.

They say when you live by the sword you die by the sword and we now live
totally by the sword.

There was a time when it was patriotic to defend our country and democratic
way of life, which was back when our democracy was one that was by the
people, for the people, and of the people.

Today, our government is corporate controlled, which means we have
sacrificed our democratic rights, freedoms, security, and safety to defend
a government, which is by the corporations, for the corporations, and of
the corporations.

This was not part of the original deal when our democracy was formed.
Nowhere in our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights
does it mention the American people must yield their democracy to the
corporate powers.

The reason our democracy was formed was to be self-governing and get away
from totalitarian rule. The first paragraph of the Declaration of
Independence states clearly the obligation to preserve our democracy rest
squarely with the American people, yet the American people are so oblivious
to their democratic responsibilities they have allowed their democracy to
fail. A democracy is only as strong as the people who participate in it.

Thomas Jefferson stated; this democracy would only last about two hundred
and fifty years before the people must decide to rebuild it or let it
revert back to totalitarian rule. We have been at it for two hundred and
thirty four years now, with sixteen years left to decide.

If the American people are satisfied with being oppressed by fear as a
result of our their military power, which is controlled by a corporate run
government then they should do nothing, but they should understand it was
they who failed their democracy and they have no one to blame but
themselves.

The group at the We Want World Peace Organization have an actual plan for World Peace. It's simple, replace war with a system of international law and order based on human rights not just the rights of other governments like the United Nations currently supports. To learn more about this plan go to www.wewantworldpeace.com

What Happened To Our Democracy?

Not surprisingly, Jefferson's view of democracy was closer to what we think of today as conservatism, than to what our current Democratic Party to stands for today. Jefferson, like most of the founding fathers, had a fundamental distrust of government and understood the enormity of temptation borne by power wielding politicians to perniciously manipulate government. Today the government seems to be more our master than our servant. Are the people still in charge?

For a political science class, I was asked to investigate democracy and capitalism. No the quality of democracy is heavily influenced by capitalism, but to what extent? In "Democracy for the Few", Michael Parenti discusses the relationship between "want" and "wealth" in a capitalist society.

What is happening in Venezuela has been very problematic for some people in the United States. This is not surprising, because it has also been for many people in Venezuela, especially the very wealthy and powerful Venezuelans who consider themselves more European than the others. What is going on is a battle between the social darwanists who think they are on the top and should be allowed to stay on top by throwing their power around, because they are superior, and those who think that people should work together on this earth to create win win situations for the whole society instead of a very rich and powerful minority.

Democracy as freedom is as essential as freedom in a democracy which is run by a government, even though the government is of the people. Defining just what our government here in the United States does for us is not so simple as to say everything is out in the open for all to see and hear, which is part of the problem we have in our National Security right now, meaning some people do not know how to keep their mouths shut. National security depends on the ability of those concerned to keep a secret, which begs the question ...

I suppose this is an ongoing question,"Why do people denounce Democracy?" In America this is often looked upon as a mortal sin, almost, and as President Bush would proclaim: the world at large should be under such an umbrella. Anybody's guess is good here though, but let me try to explain my opinion, and of course it is just that, an opinion, and perhaps too opinionated.

There is no doubt that the political process and democracy itself is now under serious threat, at a time when the changes to our climate demand desperate attention. We need to be able to act to deal with this monumental threat in an unconditional fashion that does not require our adherence to financial or political commitments. Civil unrest across the planet is evidence of the failure of a new democracy that sidelines the voter in favour of the needs of political sponsors. We need a new type of political leader who better understands who and what we are as a species and how we relate to the natural world.

Saturday morning, as I pulled myself out of bed, I overheard a comment on TV concerning the crisis in Iran. My wife had been up for several hours. She was having morning coffee and working her farm on Facebook while listening to a news show. "Crisis in Iran" what are they talking about?

Calling Indian democracy "bogus" before a 'parliamentary-civil society' team on a visit to Kashmir, father of Tufail Matoo Mohammad Ashraf on Friday said that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was responsible to worsen the situation in Indian Kashmir.